Candles Dancing in a Tempest
by Olympus - 117
Summary: Kara already holds her open heart and there's nothing Lena can do about it. A Supercorp ficlet series.
1. Walls

**Candles Dancing in a Tempest**

 _Short little Supercorp oneshots. Some, fluff, some action. A whole lotta angst about our favourite repressed bisexuals. Because until the Supergirl writers get their heads out of their asses, we're just going have to pick up the slack. And dammnit if this ship isn't consuming every single moment of my life._

* * *

There are three things Lena Luthor is absolutely certain of.

One: Luthors will fight fiercely for everything; power, money, prestige – love. Once they had their minds firmly set on something, they would stop at nothing to get it and woe betide anyone who dares get in their way.

Two: A Luthor was not all she was. She had tried, tried _so_ hard, dammit, to carve out a life for herself in National City. Away from Lex, from her mother, from the ever-present spectre of the Luthor name, never too far behind, relentless in its certainty to destroy all that she had accomplished and drag her back down into the madness that her name stands for.

Three: Kara Danvers was going to be the death of her.

It starts innocuously, little glances here and there, a shy reporter and an aloof CEO. Toeing the waters. Friends? Perhaps. Not quite. Too much baggage on both sides, although only one of them really understands just how much at this point. But surprisingly, they click. Like puzzle pieces just falling into place. They're still practically strangers, but there's a spark there, slumbering in the embers of shy stutters and curious smiles.

The Luthor walls, iron clad and precision engineered to protect the lonely, beating heart within, are still very much up, cold and impenetrable in their might. But for the first time in a long, long while, Lena considers that maybe, _just_ maybe, she can sense the faintest cracks begin to form.

 _(Lena dares to hope)._

* * *

Supergirl is a goddess. Not in the literal sense, although she might as well be.

 _(Lena knows too much to think that true anymore. She thinks of the fevered fire boiling behind her brother's eyes; glinting with that sickly, otherworldly green)_.

But Supergirl is power. Raw, undulated _power_. And Lena, despite herself; despite all the promises she had made, whispered to herself in those cold, dark nights when her brother drove himself to kill a god – Lena can't help it. The power flows in her veins, intoxicates her. Just being in the same room as the Girl of Steel made her tremble at the knees.

 _(Think of all the things she could do with that kind of power at her disposal. Lex was a fool to try and kill Superman. Why kill when you could control? Nations would bow to her; humanity would kneel at her feet. Little Lena Luthor, conquer of worlds.)_

Then she remembers Kara Danvers. Sweet, kind, goofy Kara Danvers. Lena isn't blind. In fact, she's a certified genius. It takes her maybe a second to put two and two together to get _secret identity_. And that stops her cold in her tracks. Because maybe she might be willing to sacrifice Supergirl, the figure, the goddess, floating high and mighty above humanity, passing judgment at her whim. But Kara Danvers?

 _(Turns out, Supergirl isn't the only one with kryptonite and the cracks grow bigger)._

* * *

The months pass, and despite her best efforts, Lena is helpless to get sucked in to the human _(kryptonian?)_ whirlpool that is Kara Danvers. Lena once catches herself musing that if she could somehow harness the pure joy that Kara radiates, she could power the whole world with happiness alone. Then Lena mentally slaps herself. _Getting soft Luthor_.

 _(She doesn't deny it though and the wall begins to fall apart)._

* * *

When CADMUS rears its ugly head and Lena's world comes crashing down, Kara is there for her. Solid, immovable. In more ways than one.

 _(Lena still hasn't told her she knows. And honestly? She's not sure why she doesn't anymore and oh –)_

Her head on Kara's shoulder is like coming home. _Oh God, she's so far gone if she's thinking things like that and – and – she really can't be bothered to care because her world is nothing but_ Kara _–_

Lena scrambles for control, desperately trying to keep herself together because while the heart wants what the heart wants, Lena is not stupid. She knows full well the consequences of having an exposed nerve, a weak point laid bare. And Kara? Kara already holds her open heart and there's nothing Lena can do about it.

 _(The wall breaks. Lena can't find it within herself to care)._


	2. Fragile

**Candles Dancing in a Tempest**

The first time they kiss, Lena's eyes flutter closed. The world melts away, inconsequential to the blazing sun of a woman sitting next to her.

(Too close and she could get burnt, but she's so long past caring).

Kara's lips were so soft, so at odds with the raw strength Lena knew she could bring to bear. Despite that, despite the power almost visibly thrumming underneath her skin, Kara seems almost … afraid? Lena stops, gently pulling back, Kara's lips still pink and slightly swollen, a dazed look on her face.

(Lena's still a little proud of that. The mighty Supergirl, undone by a kiss. Her kiss.)

Lena studies Kara's face, notes how her hands remain firmly by her sides, the tautness in her body that couldn't be explained away just from the kiss. She glances at Kara's eyes and sees the wildly conflicting emotions flashing across them. There's desire there, plain as day, but also … apprehension? Fear?

No, not afraid, Lena realises with a jolt. Worried. Of her? For her. Ah.

Lena reaches forward and gently takes Kara's hand in her own.

"You could break me Kara," she says quietly. "Completely destroy me any time you like. My heart in the palm of your hands." A conflicted look flashes over Kara's face for a split second before Lena brings Kara's hand up and presses a soft kiss to the back of her palm.

"But you would never hurt me, not like that. I trust you, Kara."

"But – my powers –"

"Kara, if I were threatened by your powers, I wouldn't be sitting here, on your sofa, in your apartment, kissing you silly."

An adorable blush spreads across Kara's face and Lena laughs, watching the tension ease out of Kara's body, causing her to almost slump down on the pillows in relief. Lena takes the opportunity to steal another kiss. Kara giggles and gently - carefully pulls Lena closer.

* * *

Lena wasn't made of glass, but then again Kara wasn't exactly normal either. And Lena knows that she's not the only one fragile in this – she may not have super-strength, but just as Kara has her heart, she has Kara's.

(A dangerous thing to put in the hands of a Luthor.)

Lena shoves the thought away. Tosses it in the deepest, darkest crevice of her mind and throws away the key. But she can't get away from it entirely, it's in her blood, in the madness simmering just underneath the surface, just waiting for a moment of weakness.

(Little Lena Luthor, conqueror of worlds).

She looks at Kara, at the way her hair falls in soft waves, almost glowing in the low light and she thinks, No. She would not give in to this, not let doubt and fear replace love and caring.

Not for all the world.

If Kara could control her strength out of love for her, then had Lena any choice but to do the same? But that was all relationships, wasn't it? Balance. Push and pull.

For the first time in a long, long while, Lena realises that she is content. Truly content. And she didn't know how long this would last, how long before the rug is pulled out from under them and they tumble down into madness and destruction.

(A super and a Luthor? Please, it was all but certain.)

But for now? There was only Kara.

And that was enough.


End file.
